MOOREVILLE – South Pontotoc girls and boys, Water Valley girls, and Mooreville boys teams all punched their tickets to the second round of the Division 2-3A tournament Tuesday night at Mooreville High School.

The Water Valley girls team opened its game against Mooreville on an 11-2 run before Lauren Lewis caught fire midway through the second quarter to score six points to pull the Lady Troopers to a 26-20 halftime deficit.

Lacey Richey connected on a layup and a 3-pointer to pull Mooreville within 28-26 early in the third, but the rest of the night belonged to Water Valley.

Ashley Phillips scored seven third-quarter points and added six more in the fourth to help the Lady Blue Devils pull away for the 56-41 victory.

“I was pleased with the way we played,” said Water Valley head coach Jason Purdy. “We shot the ball real well and rebounded real well.”

Lewis scored a team-high 13, while Richey added 11 for Mooreville.

Courtney Phillips scored 19, Ashley added 16 and Haley Vance had 14 to help Water Valley advance to the Region 2-3A semifinals against top-seed Aberdeen at 7:00 p.m. Thursday.

(B) Mooreville 62, Winona 35

Quadzing Rogers scored a game-high 21 points as the Troopers cruised to a first-round win over the Winona Tigers.

Winona closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to make it an 18-11 contest, but that would be as close as Mooreville would let it get, as they held the Tigers to three second-quarter points.

Rogers scored nine points in the second half to put the Troopers in the semifinals against No. 2 seed Nettleton on Thursday.

Cody Flowers led Winona with 8 points.

(G) So. Pontotoc 64, Winona 61

Elizabeth Henson found her twin sister Emily with a no-look pass for a uncontested layup to put South Pontotoc up for good in the final seconds of its first-round win over Winona.

“They communicate real well with each other,” South Pontotoc head coach Matt Waldrop. “Emily made a good cut to the basket and Elizabeth hit her with a great pass to put us up there at the end.”

Emily Henson scored 19 while Lana Goggins added 16 and Cortney Collums had 11 for South Pontotoc.

Alexus Flowers paced Winona with 28 points.

South will take on No. 2 seed Nettleton Thursday.

(B) So. Pontotoc 50, Water Vall. 38

Gary Lipsey scored 20 of his game-high 30 points in the first half to help lift South Pontotoc to a first-round win over Water Valley.

The Cougars pushed their way out to a 38-30 lead behind five points from Jermaine Bean and Lipsey added six in the final frame to advance to Thursday’s semifinal against Aberdeen.

Bean scored 11 for South Pontotoc. Tavi Toles paced Valley with 13 points.